The building opened for class in September 1929 and was dubbed "The Million Dollar School" due to its approximate cost.

Besides white flight, another factor influencing this change can be found in the neighborhood schools concept adopted by the Montgomery Board of Education.

[4] In 2006, Lanier was the only traditional public high school in Montgomery to meet federally mandated No Child Left Behind standards.

In 1966, Lanier was triple state champs, winning top honors in football, basketball, and track and field.

As Montgomery's population began to increase, another school for whites was built in 1955, Robert E. Lee High.

Racial integration and the emergence of Jeff Davis High School as a football power in 1970 diminished the Lee–Lanier rivalry.

In the early 1950s Sidney Lanier High School won the state championship in baseball 6 years in a row (1950–1955).

He earned All-American football honors at the University of Tennessee and was drafted out of college by the Dallas Cowboys in 1970.

His father, Richmond Flowers Sr., was the state's attorney general at the time and a bitter political foe of then-popular governor, George C. Wallace.

The 1972 team was led by future University of Alabama All-SEC running back Johnny Davis.

The first African American from Lanier who received an NCAA Division I scholarship, Davis went on to star with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL.

Coach Little resigned after the 1979 season, and his replacement was long time GW Carver defensive coordinator Charles Sikes.

The most notable game of the 1995 season came on a fall night in Cramton Bowl between an undefeated Sidney Lanier team and cross town rival Jeff Davis.

After Hurricane Opal obliterated Cramton Bowl field, the Poets were forced to play Robert E. Lee, at the unwillingness of both school's Head coaches, due to a super-saturated field; the Poets fell to cross town rival and costing them a shot at a state championship.

Coach Fuller's 1999 and 2000 teams, led by Keldrick Williams, Rod Sharpe, Tavaris Jackson, and Nigel Eldridge.

The 1999 squad with Rod Sharpe anchoring the defensive line, and the hardest hitting defense in Alabama won the 6A Area 6 Championship by upsetting Robert E. Lee in the season finale, and went on to record 3 playoff wins, setting up a rematch with Archrival Robert E. Lee.

But, reflecting the unpredictability of this fierce rivalry dating back almost 50 years, Lee upset Lanier.

Under his leadership, the team participated in a number of community service projects, including street cleaning and reading literacy.

He was replaced by former Alabama State Head Coach, L. C. Cole, who engineered one of the more remarkable turnarounds in the program's storied history.

After a first round playoff victory over Theodore, the Poets went on the road and upset highly ranked and defending state runner-up Daphne, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Opelika.

Former Jeff Davis and Tennessee State University standout tight end Steve Holloway, a long time assistant to 3 previous head coaches, finally got the call to lead the Poets.